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INTRODUCTORY A BEGINNER’S GUIDE HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS A publication of Learn more about HubSpot’s all-in-one inbound marketing software at www.HubSpot.com October 2011 edition HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE Share this eBook! HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE By Anum Hussain HubSpot Inbound Marketing Associate @numinews & Jamie Turner Founder of 60 Second Marketer @60SecondTweets Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS LINKEDIN? CHAPTER 1: STEPS TO COMPLETE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE CHAPTER 2: REASONS TO USE A COMPANY PAGE 12 CHAPTER 3: STEPS TO COMPLETE YOUR COMPANY PAGE 14 CHAPTER 4: HOW TO TURN ON COMPANY STATUS UPDATES 18 CHAPTER 5: HOW LEAD GENERATION WORKS ON LINKEDIN 21 CHAPTER 6: WAYS TO USE LINKEDIN TO GENERATE LEADS 23 CHAPTER 7: KEY TIPS ON LINKEDIN TODAY FOR MARKETERS 27 CONCLUSION: A FINAL WORD ON LINKEDIN 29 Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE WHAT IS LINKEDIN? LinkedIn is a social network with over 116 million users that enables you to network professionally, post and find jobs, answer questions, and build thought leadership—while simultaneously helping the people you trust A user can easily discover the people employed by a certain business, or the various businesses a certain person has worked for But what makes LinkedIn truly different from other social media sites? Let’s try this analogy: As you most likely already know, every social media tool has its own personality Facebook is a lot like the local pub A pub is a place where you can go in, chat with friends, tell a few jokes and relax a bit LinkedIn is more like a trade show—a place where you’d keep things pretty buttoned-up and formal No need to mention your vacation in Las Vegas on LinkedIn But that white paper you wrote? Perfect for LinkedIn For these reasons, LinkedIn should be an integral part of your social media marketing It’s time to get started! (And while you’re at it, check out the HubSpot company page and follow us to learn more about our company/LinkedIn.) Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com STEPS TO COMPLETE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE COMPLETING YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE Before you can delve fully into using LinkedIn as a business, you need to master LinkedIn as an individual user While many people have an account, their profile is often incomplete, making it essentially useless You might even say the only thing worse than not having a profile is having an incomplete one Thus, assuming you already have some form of a LinkedIn profile (if not, go create one!), let’s complete your profile so you can attain social media greatness Go to the menu bar at the top of any LinkedIn page and select the “Profile” menu Drag down to the “Edit Profile” link Now we are ready for the following steps: Include Full Name and Image Let’s start with the very first section This may sound like a no-brainer, but countless LinkedIn users fail to include their full name and picture Display your first and last name to ensure people can find you Using a first name with a last initial is not sufficient—especially when a prospective client or employer is trying to locate your profile Then, upload an image Research suggests that profiles without photos are rarely viewed, as they are perceived as profiles not in use Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE Personalize Your Headline Customize your “Professional Headline,” which will automatically update in the future as your current position However, you have the option of altering it to something else, which may be more appealing to prospective clients or employers But keep in mind that if a client were seeking you out on LinkedIn, it would be helpful to include your current position in the headline In general, keep it short and sweet TIP: If you switch jobs, your professional headline will reflect that So instead of trying to recall what your perfect headline was, have it saved for easy accessibility Add Work History Head over to the Experience section At the very minimum you should list your most recent positions Click “Add a position,” and you will be navigated to a separate page where you can fill out information about that job If your company appears in the drop down once you start typing, click on it to ensure you get grouped with fellow employees under company searches TIP: Avoid adding the various positions you held in the many organizations, clubs, and/or societies at your school (whether you are currently in school or 10 years removed) While these are all great experiences, if you want to tailor your profile to a professional environment, highlight only your professional experience—internships, jobs, etc LinkedIn was wise enough to know how to weigh the clout of each type of work, by including a section under education to separately list these activities Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE Customize Your LinkedIn URL You’ll want to create a personalized LinkedIn URL Still under the “Edit Profile” page, look at the bottom of your profile You’ll see a line that says “Public Profile” with an “Edit” link next to it From there, you’ll be taken to a new screen Scroll down and to the right of the page you’ll see prompts that show you how to create your customized LinkedIn URL quickly and easily TIP: Try to avoid using your company name in your LinkedIn URL After all, there are no guarantees you’ll be at that company forever Customize your Website URL’s Website URL’s are just as important as your customer LinkedIn URL Click edit next to “Additional Information.” Here you can include your interests, groups and associations, and any honors and awards Each is self-explanatory However, the first section calls for websites The drop down menu for adding a website lists options such as Personal Website, Company Website, Blog, etc We recommend choosing “Other”— regardless of what kind of site it is This will allow you to insert your own Title, so instead of a hyperlinked word that says “Blog,” it will be more specific, such as “Marketing Blog.” Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE Ask for Recommendations You’ll notice a hyperlink under each position that says, “Ask for recommendations.” A recommendation can help to distinguish a traditional position by illustrating how well you performed through a colleague’s narrative TIP: When requesting a recommendation, not simply send the generic message LinkedIn creates for you Include some specific projects you worked on so that your recommender remembers the particular work you did and speak to it Notice the difference between: “Pete was a creative thinker who got the job done”, and “Pete created and implemented a blogging strategy that helped generate 163 leads in one weeks time.” Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 10 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE Connect Your Twitter Account with LinkedIn Just above the Public Profile link under the first section of your profile (where your name, headline, and image is), you will see a Twitter link Click edit to manage your Twitter settings Not only should you display your Twitter handle, but you should share tweets as well Your tweets are one of the only ways to make your profile personable and not focused solely around your professional life A client or employer will want to see how you speak and think in addition to the more traditional information available on your resume TIP: Select the option to only share tweets that contain a LinkedIn hashtag (#in or #li) This will allow you to filter which tweets appear on your profile This way, if you tweet about seeing someone walk into a door while drunk, it’ll get buried away in your Twitter stream and you can focus on sharing more professional tweets Keep in mind that not all LinkedIn users are updating their accounts as often as Twitter users, so having a filter can avoid spamming your connections Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 16 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE You now have the option to “add a product or service.” Do it LinkedIn will go through simple step-by-step instructions to help you broadcast those services Promote Under the initial overview tab, LinkedIn (under Admintools) allows you to promote your company through an ad campaign This feature is split into simple steps, which LinkedIn takes you through in a very comprehensible manner A “Common Questions” box also appears to the right of this page, so you can truly understand how the feature works A LinkedIn ad campaign could help spread the word about your company as you build and integrate inbound marketing efforts into your business platform Measure Everything Well, everything provided on your company page The fourth and final tab on your company page is “analytics.” Remember that everything you with internet marketing involves taking the time to see how those efforts are playing out (this will help you determine whether or not those efforts are worth the time.) The analytics tab will allow you to track page views and unique visitors on your overall page, as well as each individual tab LinkedIn also measures how many clicks your products or services have received and the number of members following your company Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 17 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE In addition, LinkedIn gives percentages for member visits This tool can be helpful in understanding who your LinkedIn target audience is because the data is split into member visits by industry (marketing, finance, etc.), function (sales, research, etc.), and company (HubSpot, LinkedIn, etc.) Et voila! You now have a fantabulous company profile page—one that can be reached through your wonderful personal page Now keep that momentum flowing as we head into the last step in perfecting your company page Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW TO TURN ON COMPANY STATUS UPDATES 19 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TURNING ON COMPANY STATUS UPDATES As mentioned earlier, a LinkedIn company page showcases all the people who currently work at that company Anyone with a valid @companyname.com email address is able to edit the minimal information on the page However, with the launch of LinkedIn’s status update feature for these pages, only selected employees will be able to administrate This will allow your company to have another platform to share information, and add some personality to your page (you need to broadcast your voice to become more personable!) Here’s a breakdown of the simple steps to activate status updates, which will appear on followers’ LinkedIn homepages as well as the company’s page itself In addition, LinkedIn users can “Like,” comment on, and share a company’s updates, a la Facebook If you’re an administrator, visit your Company Page on LinkedIn (e.g for HubSpot) Under “Admin Tools” on the right, click “Edit” Under Company Page Admins, check “Designated Users Only” (Note: you must have this box checked in order to enable company status updates If the “All employees with a valid email registered to the company domain” box is checked, the status update box will not appear.) Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 20 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE Once you designate admins under “Manage Admins,” your Company Status Update box will appear!         Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com HOW LEAD GENERATION WORKS ON LINKEDIN 22 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE LEAD GENERATION ON LINKEDIN Now that an awesome profile and company page has been set up, start using LinkedIn to generate leads (hello inbound marketing) Let’s start by talking about the two main approaches for using LinkedIn for lead generation The first approach is to provide prospects information about your company directly on LinkedIn The second approach is to start the conversation on LinkedIn, but then drive the prospect through to a landing page on your website (For more information on using HubSpot to develop and track your landing pages, click here.) This first approach—to provide prospects information directly on LinkedIn—is terrific if you reach out to people with their interests in mind Meaning, if you’ve ever been to a cocktail party and had someone walk up to you and instantly try to sell you insurance, you know that it was an unpleasant experience But if you went to the same cocktail party and met someone who spent 20 minutes talking about you, your interests and your needs, and then mentioned that they sell insurance, you’d be much more inclined to buy from them, right? It’s the same when you provide information to prospects directly via LinkedIn If you’re going to use the direct approach, get to know the prospect first Try to be helpful by offering advice, industry insights or general information before you turn it into a sales call So what about the indirect approach? The indirect approach aspires to drive people through to a landing page where they can download a white paper, signing them up for your e-newsletter or giving them more information on your products or services Here’s the trick with the second approach—you still want to start out by offering free advice or helpful information to your customer prospect The rules of engagement are the same as the direct approach, but the difference is that once you’ve connected with your prospect on LinkedIn, you drive them through to your landing page Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 6 WAYS TO USE LINKEDIN TO GENERATE LEADS   24 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE USING LINKEDIN FOR LEAD GENERATION With the aforementioned in mind, here are six primary ways you can use LinkedIn to generate leads for your business LinkedIn Answers: This is one of the more useful (and under-utilized) tools on LinkedIn It’s a section where people who want to ask questions about business go to get advice And guess who’s giving the advice? You are, because you’re an industry-insider with a lot of helpful knowledge, right? Right LinkedIn Applications: One of the more interesting places to visit on LinkedIn is the Applications area This is where you can go to add new and interesting apps that will improve the experience people have on your LinkedIn page If you’d like to add your blog posts to your LinkedIn page, there’s an app for that Or, if you’d like to let people know what business books you’re reading, that’s easy, too You can even set up simple polls to find out what’s on the minds of your customers and prospects Every application comes with easy steps to implement them LinkedIn Groups: Join several groups on LinkedIn The trick here isn’t just joining the obvious groups in your industry—it’s joining groups that are outside your industry that might help you grow your business By stretching out a little bit, you’re expanding your reach, which is always good for business So, for Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 25 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE example, if you’re an accountant, you don’t want to just join accounting groups—you’ll want to join groups for entrepreneurs, small business owners, restaurateurs and other groups outside of your immediate circle (To learn more about LinkedIn Groups, read these tips for creating, promoting and managing a LinkedIn group.) LinkedIn People: This is terrific for sales people, people looking for jobs and business-to-business owners who want to get their foot in the door at a large corporation Just a search in the upper-right-hand box for your target company Click on the company Now, on the right hand side, you’ll see a box that will show you your first connection (also known as a direct connection) and your second connections Assuming you have no first or direct connections, click on the second connections link This will bring up a list of names of people at your target company At the bottom of the profile, you’ll see a list of your shared connections From that point on, it’s a cakewalk—just ask your friends to introduce you via LinkedIn to the people at your target company Bingo, you’re in Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 26 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE LinkedIn Direct Ads: LinkedIn has an advertising program that can be used to drive new prospects to your landing page, LinkedIn group or other destination The ads work the same way Google paid search ads work You simply write a headline, add some copy and create a destination link Then you bid on how much you’ll pay LinkedIn every time someone clicks on the ad If you pay $1 to LinkedIn for a click-through, and it takes 50 clicks before you convert a customer, then you’ve just spent $50 for customer If your product sells for $500 each, investing $50 to generate $500 is not a bad return-on-investment LinkedIn Mobile: Yes, LinkedIn has a mobile application If you haven’t already downloaded it to your smart phone, just go to your app store and download it for free The LinkedIn mobile app is best used when you’re at an event where you’re making oneon-one contacts During a conversation with a prospect, ask them to turn on LinkedIn on their smart phone Then, bump your phones together lightly If your contact has their settings correct, then LinkedIn will transfer your contact information between phones using Bluetooth No typing, no misspelled words—just instant transfer of information Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com KEY TIPS ON LINKEDIN TODAY FOR MARKETERS   28 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TIPS ON LINKEDIN TODAY FOR MARKETERS LinkedIn Today is a news aggregation service Whenever users log on to LinkedIn, three top stories from their selected industry appear above the updates section Users can also have the option of sending LinkedIn Today headlines to their email, either daily or through a weekly digest Here are three tips for marketers Publishing > Advertising One of the basics of inbound marketing is realizing that people read content and ignore ads Advertising can be important in the initial steps of creating awareness, but creating content that has the potential of being promoted by LinkedIn users, and therefore landing on multiple user homepages, is even more important If you don’t already have a blog, start one, and be your own publisher You never know what great content will get shared enough to land in a user’s top stories Be Active Since your news and blog posts can be spread more virally on LinkedIn, there is even more reason to be active in this business community If you have more friends and build better relationships with them on LinkedIn, then it is more likely your content will get more shares and be featured on LinkedIn Today One Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com 29 HOW TO USE LINKEDIN FOR BUSINESS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE way to be active is to join groups and post messages there, like our Inbound Marketers LinkedIn Group Embed Share Buttons There’s no point in creating content if your users can’t share it—especially on LinkedIn where each post has the potential of landing on homepages If there isn’t one already, be sure you add a LinkedIn share button to your pages (HubSpot customers can learn how to embed a LinkedIn share button here.) FINAL WORD ON LINKEDIN There are a lot of new tools being added to the LinkedIn toolbox all the time Keep following its progress, through personal play or reading the HubSpot Marketing Blog Another great resource is Learn.LinkedIn.com It’s packed with in-depth tutorials you can use to supercharge your use of LinkedIn Good luck And keep us posted on your progress! Share this eBook! www.HubSpot.com Take HubSpot for a testdrive to see how HubSpot’s social media tools can help you monitor, participate in, and generate more leads from social media like LinkedIn! CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE, 30-DAY HUBSPOT TRIAL TODAY!